It all happened too suddenly. Tsunade watched, helpless, as Sakura was pierced through the heart by a single sword strike. The blade was then withdrawn, and Sakura collapsed to the ground.
The stone that had been thrown towards Sakura was now pinned beneath her, seemingly having no effect whatsoever. Sakura lay motionless on the ground.
In the nearby forest, a pair of bright eyes witnessed Sakura fall, and flames of anger ignited within them. However, upon seeing the object Karin had thrown to Sakura, the urge to rush out was suppressed.
"This, this isn't real! This... isn't... real..." Karin's eyes were wide with a mixture of terror and disbelief. In her perception, Sakura's chakra was slowly fading, her life force leaking away like water from a fully opened faucet.
"Sakura!!!" Karin shrieked, her voice filled with anguish, and she scrambled towards the fallen girl, simultaneously rolling up her sleeve to expose her fair arm.
However, before Karin could reach Sakura's side, the ANBU who had ambushed Sakura from behind appeared before Karin in an instant. He then jabbed the hilt of his ninja sword into Karin's stomach.
"Ugh... cough..." The heavy blow to her abdomen made Karin's eyes bulge, her pupils dilate. Her body arched like a shrimp.
"Karin!" Tsunade, battling immense grief, cried out to her second disciple. She glared at the ANBU, demanding, "Who are you? Why have I never seen you before?"
The ANBU seemed not to hear Tsunade's question. After a few leaps, he moved to join a figure that had suddenly appeared nearby.
"Wait!" Tsunade stomped her foot, and the earth instantly fractured and split as she chased after the ANBU.
But when she saw clearly who the ANBU was meeting, her expression, aside from shock, was filled with an uncontainable rage.
Swinging her fist, Tsunade aimed a devastating blow at the figure. But before her fist could connect, the ANBU who had ambushed Sakura interposed his sword, blocking the attack.
Seeing this, Tsunade's fury escalated. She held nothing back, channeling all her strength into her attack on the ANBU.
With a deafening CLANG, a copious amount of blood seeped from beneath the ANBU's mask. He was sent flying like a broken kite.
Tsunade, her momentum unchecked, twisted her body and swung her fist again, continuing her assault towards the figure.
"Stop!!!"
A sharp roar came from the side. A black staff then appeared, blocking the path between the figure and Tsunade.
It was the Third Hokage who had intervened, the staff being the transformed state of his summoning animal, Monkey King Enma.
The events had unfolded too rapidly. It was only when Tsunade attacked that the Third Hokage finally grasped the situation.
Tsunade stared at the staff obstructing her and the figure just beyond her reach, her body burning with an anger that felt ready to erupt.
The Third Hokage moved to their side and said to Tsunade, "Calm down first!"
Hearing the Third Hokage's words, Tsunade's already suppressed rage instantly became impossible to contain. It's because of your meddling, your constraints, that I've had to compromise again and again! This entire situation is his fault!
Seeing the faint smile playing on the figure's lips, Tsunade lowered her head, her fists clenched tightly.
Seeing Tsunade pause, the Third Hokage turned to the figure who had suddenly appeared. "Danzo, what is the meaning of this?!"
The figure who had appeared was indeed Danzo. Danzo glanced coolly at Tsunade, then addressed the Third Hokage, explaining, "I am doing my job. A situation like Orochimaru's cannot be allowed to repeat..."
BOOM! A tremendous crash reached the Third Hokage's ears.
Danzo's unfinished sentence was cut short as he was sent flying. Tsunade had shot forward with incredible speed, pursuing Danzo's airborne form.
"Don't, Tsunade! Calm yourself!" the Third Hokage exclaimed in alarm, hastily giving chase.
But Tsunade was already resolute. She was going to eliminate Danzo – not just beat him, but grind his bones to dust.
Tsunade had clearly seen Sakura's heart pierced by the blade. In this environment, with such a wound, Tsunade was truly powerless to help. If they were at the Konoha Hospital right now, there might have been a chance to save her.
But alas, even if they rushed back to Konoha at full speed now, Sakura would have long since died. The only thing she could do now was avenge her. And it had to be now. Otherwise, after this incident passed, she feared she would never get another chance.
The Third Hokage truly hadn't expected things to turn out this way, for Danzo to appear at such a critical moment.
He understood Danzo's actions. What Danzo had done was precisely what the Third Hokage himself had resolved to do before the operation began. But when it came down to it, the Third Hokage had hesitated, changing the objective from eliminating Sakura to capturing her.
The Third Hokage was not a man of iron will or a black-hearted schemer. Throughout his life, he had acted with integrity and treated others with kindness. Although he was unwilling to touch the matters of darkness, as a Hokage managing a ninja village, surrounded by powerful enemies, these unpleasant realities did not cease to exist. Thus, there was Danzo.
For a long time, the two of them had cooperated very well. Although the Third Hokage felt Danzo went too far in some matters and had even reprimanded him, he had never dismissed Danzo from his position. Because he needed him. Konoha needed Danzo.
As Hokage, the Third Hokage always prioritized the village's interests, the collective's interests. When faced with a choice between the two, he could only choose the village. This had nothing to do with his personal character; it was simply the burden of his position.
It was this very relationship that had allowed Danzo to act with increasing impunity, sometimes even keeping the Third Hokage, the Hokage himself, in the dark.
This time, the Third Hokage had decided to play the villain himself. But when the moment came, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Danzo's appearance had resolved the matter, and the Third Hokage had simultaneously felt a sense of relief.
Now, all he had to do was stop Tsunade. After all, what was done could not be undone.
Not far away, Karin, having suffered a heavy blow to her abdomen, was in so much pain she nearly fainted. But the thought of Sakura's condition forced her to stay conscious.
"Sakura!" Karin clutched her stomach, her body trembling as she slowly crawled on the ground towards Sakura.
At this moment, everyone was preoccupied with Tsunade's rampage. The Third Hokage's health had been declining ever since Orochimaru's invasion, and a Tsunade at her peak was not someone he could stop alone. He was forced to order the ninja he had brought to try and restrain the enraged Tsunade, so no one was paying attention to Karin.
After Karin crawled to Sakura's side, she found someone was already there.
Looking up, she saw it was Neji. Neji had his Byakugan activated, observing Sakura's condition.
"Neji..." Karin gritted her teeth and called out weakly. "Help me over there. Sakura... she's not... not dead yet."
Neji's face was unreadable. He shook his head. "Even if she's not dead, I'm afraid she can't be saved. Her heart was pierced."
He then slammed his fist into the ground, his expression suddenly contorting into one of savage grief. "Damn it!"
"No, quickly, help me! Let her... let her bite me! I... I can save her!" Karin gasped, out of breath. "Don't... don't waste time!"
Neji looked at Karin in surprise, his face still twisted. "Bite you where?"
"Anywhere is fine! Quickly..." Karin urged.
Neji dragged Karin to Sakura's side and lifted Karin's arm towards Sakura's mouth. "Your chakra is quite chaotic from that blow just now. Will this be alright?"
"It's... it's fine..." Karin said, sweat beading on her forehead. Her eyes darted around, as if searching for something.
"What are you looking for?" Neji asked.
"A stone. There was a stone. Did you see it?" Karin said. In that split second, all Karin could do was throw the stone at Sakura, hoping it would have some effect.
Karin didn't know what this Stone of Gelel was, but she knew it possessed a mysterious power. Sakura had obtained the last two pieces of Ikarus's Stone of Gelel from Ranke on a previous mission. One had already been used by Sakura, and the other was kept for research.
"Are you talking about this? This is what you threw just now, right?" Neji said, handing Karin a gray stone.
"Huh?" Karin was taken aback. Is this the Stone of Gelel? Why has it turned gray? It was green before.
Just then, Karin suddenly heard a faint thump-thump – a heartbeat. She hurriedly looked at Sakura, who was still biting her arm, but Sakura's face remained deathly pale.
Thump-thump.
Another heartbeat. Karin quickly pressed her ear to Sakura's chest, listening.
After a long moment, another thump-thump.
Karin quickly said to Neji, "Quick, check her condition now!"
Karin hadn't sensed any recovery in Sakura's life force, but the heartbeats were definitely there.
"Same as before," Neji said, shaking his head helplessly.
Strange. Why?
"Do you want to save her?"
A clear, cold voice reached their ears.
"Who's there?!" Neji snapped his head around.
"Jun... Junko! Wh-what are you doing here?" Karin gasped in pain and surprise.
Neji relaxed slightly. He knew Junko; Sakura had brought her back from outside the village.
"Move aside!" Junko said coldly to Karin.
"Wh-what are you going to do?" Karin asked, looking at Junko.
"The properties of your body cannot heal an injury like hers. If you don't want her to die, then get out of my way!" Seeing Karin not budge, Junko stepped forward and roughly pulled Karin's arm away.
"Hey, what... what are you doing?" Karin couldn't help but exclaim anxiously.
Junko ignored Karin. She took out a kunai, sliced open her own palm, and then pressed her bleeding hand against the wound on Sakura's chest.